Doors and windows
Doors and windows are hosted families: they cut their own openings in walls and carry size and type information for schedules. Learn to place, adjust and load them.
In this lesson you will
- Place doors and windows accurately
- Load new door and window families
- Flip and adjust instances
- Understand types, sizes and tags
Placing doors
Temporary dimensions measure from the nearest walls; drag their grips to measure from a different reference.
- 1Architecture › Door (DR).
- 2Choose a type in the Type Selector, e.g. Single-Flush 820 × 2040.
- 3Tick Tag on Placement if you want door tags.
- 4Hover over a wall — the door previews and cuts the wall. Press Space to flip swing before clicking.
- 5After placing, click the temporary dimension and type the exact distance from a wall face.
Flipping
Select a placed door to see two pairs of blue arrows: one flips the hand (hinge side), the other flips the facing (swing side). Windows have a facing arrow to put the exterior side outside.
Windows
Windows work the same way (WN). Their Sill Height (instance) sets the height above the level; the Head Height is usually derived from the type's height. Check sill heights against the brief — for example lower in living areas, higher in bathrooms.
Loading families
Templates include only a few door and window families. Insert › Load Family browses the content library installed with Revit or downloaded from Autodesk, and manufacturers' official families. Loading brings the .rfa into the project.
To make a new size, select a door › Edit Type › Duplicate › name it (e.g. 920 × 2040) › set Width and Height. Name types by size so schedules make sense.
Only download families from Autodesk or manufacturers' official sites. Poorly made families from random sites bloat and destabilise models.
Tags and marks
Every door has a Mark (e.g. D01) shown by its tag and used in schedules. Revit numbers marks as you place them; renumber in the schedule or Properties. Window tags usually show the type mark (W1, W2) rather than a unique number.
Quick reference
| Command / tool | How to start it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Door | DR | Places doors |
| Window | WN | Places windows |
| Load Family | Insert tab | Loads .rfa files |
| Tag by Category | TG | Tags elements |
Common mistakes
Door won't place.
It needs a wall host thick enough for the family; check the wall and the door type.
Type names don't match sizes after editing.
Duplicate and rename types rather than editing a type's size in place.
Exercise
Openings for your ground floor
- Place a 920 entry door exactly 600 from a corner using a temporary dimension.
- Place 820 internal doors in each room, flipping swings sensibly.
- Place windows: 1800 wide in living with 900 sill, 600 wide in the bathroom with 1500 sill.
- Load a sliding door family and place it to a patio.
- Tag all doors and windows.
You should end up with: Every opening placed, sized and tagged.
Checklist
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Lesson quiz
Doors are hosted by walls and cut their own openings.
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